MARTIN Laursen says there is belief Villa can topple Manchester United today - adding: "We're a real force to be reckoned with now."

MARTIN Laursen says there is belief Villa can topple Manchester United today - adding: "We're a real force to be reckoned with now."

But he knows they will have to "work their socks off" to get the better of bogey team United.

The Danish giant believes "fortress" Villa Park could witness its first win over United in over 12 years.

Villa have rattled off four home wins in a row without conceding a goal against Fulham, Chelsea, Everton or West Ham.

"That's what you want and it's great. We feel this is our fortress," he said. "Home form is very important.

"If you can win in front of all your fans, make it so hard for the opposition, and if we can get some victories away, that's perfect," he said. "We're all happy about the situation and as a group we feel we're in good form, so we're ready to play a big team again."

Villa toppled Chelsea last month but have lost their last 11 league and cup games to United.

"We've shown we can play well and beat big teams so we'll try to do that against United," said Laursen.

"We feel were a good team and we've felt that from the very beginning when we beat Inter Milan at home."

Laursen is not suggesting for one minute that Villa will not have to play at the very top of their game against the best team in the country today.

"We can see we've got a lot of potential, but that's not enough", he says. "We've got a lot of quality but we must work hard first."